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Rewind January 2010: Belchertown Humanitarians Narrowly Escape Devastation in Haiti Two Years Ago
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Tuesday,
January 31, 2012
The following report was originally published in the January 19, 2010 edition of Belchertown-News.com
Imagine going on a trip and learning that the place you had just visited was destroyed only a few hours after you had been there. This is what happened to Town Planner Doug Albertson and Liane Sikes when they returned from their trip to Haiti with the Opportunities for Communities Organization. Their flight left Haiti at around 2:10 p.m. and the earthquake that leveled Port-au-Prince struck just before 5:00 p.m.—just prior to their arrival at JFK International Airport.
Opportunities for Communities is an organization co-founded by Albertson that provides education to young people interested in learning about sustainable development. One of those young people is Liane Sikes. It provides opportunities for adults to teach, opportunities for young people to learn and help less advantaged communities, in addition to offering opportunities for those less advantaged communities.
Haiti is just one of the projects the organization is working on and has several facets. They have established a soccer team, a rent-to-own tool program to help laborers get jobs, and a meal program and teacher support for Restaveks. Restaveks are indentured servant children who wouldn’t be able to attend school any other way. On a previous trip, Albertson’s organization built a kitchen for the Restavek who had been previously been eating in less sanitary conditions.
The status of the kitchen they built is currently unknown.
On their most recent trip to Haiti, Opportunities for Communities purchased a piece of land that will be converted into a retreat—a couple of acres for $9,000. “It’s in an agricultural area several miles outside of Les Caye…So we spent a lot of time just getting to know the village that’s there…playing with their kids and letting them know who we are,” said Albertson. The retreat will likely be for the Restaveks.
Sikes’ mother, Lynn Sikes, was on the road when she received a phone call from her daughter’s boyfriend asking if Liane was in the air. After Lynn left a message on her daughter’s cell phone, Liane called as Lynn was pulling into her garage advising her that she was on the tarmac at JFK International Airport. Mom says that she was fortunate not to see the devastation in Haiti on television before learning the whereabouts of her daughter. “I would have been an absolute basket-case,” she said.
And this is how Albertson says the Opportunities group learned of the earthquake, through the message left by Liane Sikes’ mom, Lynn. “We had just landed at JFK and Liane Sikes turned on her phone and had a message from Lynn,” said Albertson adding that they didn’t believe the news initially. “All of us were just kind of blown away,” he said.
The Opportunities for Communities were taking in the sites in Port-au-Prince just before they left on their flight. However, they spent most of their trip in Les Cayes, which is located 120 miles west of the capital. Fortunately, their man on the ground, Timothé, has reported that they did not suffer the degree of devastation as Port-au-Prince.
Albertson provided Belchertown-News.com with insight into why an earthquake could be so devastating to structures in Haiti. “What they build from is hand made concrete blocks…any cement they pour is mixed on the ground. It’s just Portland Cement and some sand mixed together. Of course, there is no testing…they just slop it into a form…We’ve heard about buildings collapsing just from rain,” said Albertson.
Regardless, Opportunities for Communities has sent Timothé $1,000 to provide whatever relief that can be provided. “OFC is not a relief organization, we are educational; we have no expertise in disaster aid, but as fellow humans we must offer what we can,” said Albertson in a mass email on January 13. “Knowing Timo as we do, we know this money will be stretched beyond what we might imagine it could accomplish,” said Albertson on Friday. Since Timothé will be helping those in need, OFC’s plans for their latest land purchase will be put on the back burner.
In addition to donating to Opportunities for Communities, Albertson encourages that donation be made to: The Salvation Army, Partners in Health, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, CARE, Red Cross and other disaster relief oriented organizations. “The bigger need is for agencies who are in there saving lives…on the other hand Les Caye may be getting ignored because everything has to go to Port-au-Prince,” said Albertson.
Yesterday, Governor Deval Patrick joined elected officials and members of the Haitian community at the State House to commemorate the two year anniversary of the Haitian Earthquake. During the event, Governor Patrick presented a proclamation to Marjorie Brunache, Ministre Conseiller Responsable du Consulate, designating January 12 – February 11, 2012 as Haiti Earthquake Remembrance Month.
“Two years ago, the people of Haiti were struck by an earthquake, which was also felt here in our vibrant Haitian-American community,” said Governor Patrick. “We were all challenged by this natural disaster to rise to the occasion and today we re-commit ourselves to supporting the nation of Haiti and its community in the Commonwealth.”
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, causing catastrophic damage around the capital city Port-au-Prince and beyond. The Haitian government estimates more than 250,000 fatalities as a result of the earthquake and that thousands have come to the United States seeking refuge.
Following the earthquake, Governor Patrick called for a swift and comprehensive response from Massachusetts that would address the needs in Haiti as well as the needs of the extensive Haitian population in the Commonwealth.
Many state agencies have worked to address the needs of displaced Haitians who have arrived in Massachusetts, including access to food assistance, emergency housing, medical services, immigration assistance and access to schools. Last year, the Massachusetts National Guard deployed the 125th battalion out of Worcester and the 220th detachment out of Bridgewater to Haiti for water purification infrastructure assistance.
Editors Note: Opportunities for Communities has continued with their efforts in Haiti since the original publication of this report in January 2010. For more information about Opportunities for Communites, go to: www.opportunitiesforcommunities.org.
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